NEW DUNBURY

Pretty much the first thing I saw when arriving on Saturday was a flatbed trailer parked on the side of the road near our driveway. From previous experience I recognized it as the “ride” for a piece of earth-moving machinery. Sure enough, I could see the yellow gleaming through the silver grey trees. A new big cat was on site: a backhoe.

I suspected I knew what that meant and, pulling into the clearing, I saw I was right. The foundation had been poured. Not only that, but the frames had been removed and the drainage around the bottom installed. I got out of the van, booted up (for the clay was moist and clingy, and much churned by the big cat), and jumped out to take pictures. You’ll find some of them in the jobsite album in the gallery.

Exciting! The are now walls to stand within and a doorway to walk through!

There are, however, issues.

Item, the change in the foundation has led to a change in the interior dimensions of the basement, forcing a re-evaluation of our plans for it (some of which had tight tolerances.)

Item, the waterproofing as applied appears to follow the current site grading rather than the proposed final grading. We will be raising this issue with our GC soonest.

Right now, we are planning another trip next Saturday and will welcome folks who might want to stop by and see the site that afternoon. The long range forecast is for mid-forties for a high. Let us know if you’re interested.

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On an even warmer day than last week’s rock roll, I went down to the land on Saturday to do some more. The rock ravine (Liz and Eric know whereof I speak) is now cleared out, having produced some new and notable stones.

I think, however, the end of rock rolling for the winter has come - except for one large rock sitting proud and heavy on top of the spoil pile - which still needs shifting. It was too much for littler old me to shift alone. The ground has begun to freeze, making it hard to tell the difference between rock and dirt when poking in with a spade. THis makes prospecting difficult and all the obvious rocks are accounted for, pending new exposures from shifting dirt. The cold and ice are also making the rocks more fragile, resulting in more smaller rocks.

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As promised, I’ve posted some pictures from the rock roll expedition. Most are in the new “jobsite” album, but a couple from the actual rock roll are in their own album.

I also put up the first of the timberframe related pictures: a set of schematics on our bent design. Details will almost certainly change. Once I figure out how to get it sized right, I’ll add the “artist’s conception” of the frame.

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Bob here, unable to sleep, and thus available to report that on Saturday there was a rock roliing expedition. Liz, her brother Eric, and I visited the land to collect some of the rocks buried in the spoil piles from the excavation. There are quite a few and we intend to find better uses for them than simply being dumped back into the ground as part of the backfill. It was a beautiful, if brisk, day and we hauled out quite a few small and medium sized rocks and a couple of whoppers that seemed to have roots in China. No serious injuries were incurred, so we all decided it was a good day. More rocks remain to be recovered, so there’s more rolling in our futures.

We also checked out the footers, all poured, and met some of the new features of our worksite, including the temporrary electrical power box, the portajohn, and the storage trailer. The latter is quite prominiently plastered with advertising for a certain brand of beer. We don’t know yet if it’s the crew’s favorite or they are just amused to have their stuff in a beer trailer. Pictures were taken and I’ll try to get them posted soon.

Eric has added to the wildlife list with a sonic observation of an owl. I, with my impaired hearing, couldn’t hear it. I hope the failure was just due to weak batteries (which gave up the ghost completely on the drive home.)

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So says our project manager who reports that the footers are in and “look good.” Weather permitting the concrete guys will be back Moday to start the foundations.

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